52 DATE VAKIETIES AND DATE CULTURE IN TUNIS. 



causes the ripe fruit to sweat and, while not injuring its flavor, lessens 

 its exportability. The relation between the late summer and autumn 

 rainfall and the quality of the dates is brought out in Table 4, on 

 page 25. 



To illustrate the opinion of the inhabitants of the Jerid concerning 

 the effect of rain in early autumn upon their principal crop, the 

 following anecdote, current among them, is related by Masselot : a 



Once upon a time, after several years of drought and at length of famine, 

 the bey had ordered that public prayers for rain be said throughout the 

 regency. The people of the Jerid, alone among his subjects, refused to obey 

 the order of their sovereign. The latter, in anger, ordered the chief notables 

 among the refractory inhabitants to come to Tunis to receive punishment, had 

 them appear before him, and said to them : " How happens it that when I com- 

 mand public prayers in order to attract God's attention to us and bring us the 

 blessed rain that will give wealth to our unhappy country, you alone should 

 dare to disobey this order, given in the general interest? " " You have acted 

 rightly," replied the chief men of the Jerid, " but so far as our country is con- 

 cerned, rain would have been its ruin. Behold this soft and fragrant ball of 

 honey. Add a little water to it and what does it become? A coarse, tasteless 

 liquid. Such are our dates, which in order to produce their honey require many 

 rays of the sun, but not a drop of rain." The bey was convinced, it is said, and 

 permitted them to return to their homes. 



It is said that Deglet Noor dates should not be gathered much 

 before the end of October, as, no matter how perfect their condition 

 seems to be, if harvested earlier they will discolor and become wormy 

 within a few weeks. It was suggested by a date buyer at Tozer that 

 by cutting about one-third way through the main stalk of the fruit 

 cluster when the dates begin to mature, and thus shutting off part of 

 the water that passes through the stalk, the fruits can be made to 

 ripen earlier without injury to their keeping quality. The experi- 

 ment is at least worth trying. It is said that Deglet Noor dates can 

 also be ripened faster by removing the bunches when the dates begin 

 to soften and hanging them up in dry rooms. 



HARVESTING. 



Different varieties of dates mature at different periods, the earliest 

 in the Jerid commencing to ripen in August, or even toward the end 

 of July, while the latest are not all ripe before December. Conse- 

 quently the harvest goes on in this region during about five months. 

 The gathering of the Deglet Noor dates is done with especial care, as 

 they are the only kind that is exported in any quantity to Europe. 

 The harvest of this variety begins in earnest toward the end of 

 October (about October 25 in 1904) and often continues into the 

 first days of January. Of course, all the fruit that will ripen has 

 matured long before the latter date, but the skilled laborers iv- 



o Bui. Dir. Agr. et Com., Tunis, 1901, pp. 122, 123. 

 92 



